Sometimes publishers and authors send me stuff. I’m not sure why they think I’ll suddenly be open to unscientific, fringe ideas about how the world works and overthrow what we know via just one book. Yes, that’s right, KNOW. This book, Paradigm Busters, from the Atlantis Rising magazine library, starts off by confusing conditional scientific… Read More: I know, not just believe, this book is nonsense: Book… »
I had such high hopes for Paranormal Nation: Why America Needs Ghosts, UFOs and Bigfoot, by Marc E. Fitch (2013). I found it in an academic library, it was hefty, and the topics covered were ripe for exploring: paranormal culture in America, tourism, television, popularity. Alas, it turned out to be a bloated, credulous, rambling… Read More: A Paranormal National disaster: Book review »
The Undercover Philosopher: A Guide to Detecting Shams, Lies and Delusions by M. Philips I’m just going to do a quick review on this book which started out promising, lost me in the middle, and ended on an up note. You may be able to pull something valuable out of it, as I did, or… Read More: You were OK until the part on acupuncture: Book review »
It was news to me that back in 1985, the US Army commissioned an analysis of certain techniques that were proposed to enhance human performance. The Army Research Institute asked the National Academies to form a committee to examine these questionable strategies. The report is available here where you can read it for free. Enhancing… Read More: The 1988 US Army commissioned report on Enhancing Human Performance »
A review of Deliver Us from Evil, R. Sarchie with L.C. Cool I shall cut to the main point. I didn’t set out to read this one. I saw it in the library and it looked like a fast read. It’s important to understand what’s being put out there as “true” stories. As usual, it… Read More: Deliver me from another ridiculous “demons everywhere” story – Book… »
Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll by Peter Berbegal (2014) Saved it from what? I’m not clear. From “sugary teenybopper purgatory”? Meh. I don’t think the “occult” interest was the key aspect. Culture was changing and music reflected this. Pressing our conscious bounds outside the norm is the way of… Read More: Rock and roll and the occult – A Book Review »
America’s Most Haunted: The Secrets of Famous Paranormal Places By Theresa Argie and Eric Olsen (2014) There are books that people will love that others will hate for entirely distinct reasons. This is one of those books. I categorize America’s Most Haunted as a paranormal true believer’s travel guide to “must see” places that are… Read More: America’s most hyped haunts – Book Review »
Regarding paranormal research, there is no comparison between the work that comes out in print (paper or digital) and the mostly crap posted online from paranormal groups or the media. You are hard-pressed to find anyone online who knows what they are talking about when it comes to solid paranormal scholarship and writes well. Here’s… Read More: Beware the prowling ghost (Book Review) »
Once again, I’ve finally gotten around to a classic cryptozoology text. MAN! I missed out on this one for so many years. John Napier’s Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality ©1972 is one of the best Bigfoot texts I’ve read. I’m sure it’s because Napier was a scientist, a paleoanthropologist and primatologist… Read More: A Bigfoot book that is incredibly relevant 30 years later »
This is a brief review of Greg Long’s Making of Bigfoot. I don’t have the extra time or feel it’s worth the effort at this point to write much in detail. But in a nutshell, Long goes in search of the truth about Roger Patterson and his famous Patterson-Gimlin film of 1967 that he contended… Read More: The long and short of The Making of Bigfoot »
It’s not been the best year for the fans of real live cryptids. Not only did we NOT find Bigfoot again, we had a better explanation for the Yeti, and Sasquatch DNA samples that were a bust (Sykes) or a joke (Ketchum). The book Abominable Science inserted itself as the premier scholarly book on the… Read More: Imagineering cryptids: The Cryptozoologicon (Book review) »
Last night, I simply could not read any technical stuff before bed so I browsed my Kindle looking for some entertaining reading. The thing is, I don’t really do much fiction, almost everything I have is nonfiction. Then I came across “All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals” by Darren… Read More: Speculative paleozoology done by professionals (Book Review) »
It is my opinion that public school children should be taught a class in comparative religion. I recall a cursory review of the history of Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism as part of social studies but Americans are pretty clueless about other religions besides their own. That’s a societal flaw. I’m not particularly interested in… Read More: From the Amish to Voodoo: Unusual comparative religion (Book Review) »
I really enjoyed Lyle Blackburn’s previous book, The Legend of Boggy Creek (reviewed here), so I had to get my hands on his next one about the Lizard Man of Lee County, South Carolina. I knew of the legend and had recently researched it because of continued reports of car damage in various places. (The… Read More: Chronicle of the Lizard Man (Book Review) »
There are some writers for which you know pretty much exactly what you are going to get. Donald R. Prothero is one of those writers. I expect a well-researched, comprehensive treatment of the topic with a flavor of emotion here and there. That’s what I got with Reality Check: How Science Deniers Threaten our Future,… Read More: Reality Check: We all need it (Book review) »
I was enticed to read this book, American Gypsy, by Oksana Marafioti, after the Rose Marks trial. Marks was from an infamous Romani family who had repeatedly been charged and now found guilty of fraud due to their psychic-related business dealings. I didn’t know if this book had anything regarding the Romani [Gypsy] culture but… Read More: American gypsy psychics: Book review »
Christian Science-based faith healing communities in U.S. today are failures of their own self-destructive ideas. At least that’s the conclusion you can’t help but make when a group sacrifices their own children to be “pious” and respected. I found this disturbing tale laid out in In the Name of God:The True Story of the Fight… Read More: Arrogant ignorance In the Name of God: Book Review »
Speculating can be fun. But it’s nicer when you aren’t making stuff up out of thin air based on wishful thinking. Scientific underpinning is comforting. That’s why I liked Shadows of Existence: Discoveries and Speculations in Zoology by Matt Bille. This book was published in 2006 so it’s slightly out of date but the majority… Read More: Cryptozoology treated as zoology – Shadows of Existence (Book review) »
About two months ago, it was time for me to finally watch the classic “Bigfoot” movie, The Legend of Boggy Creek. All I remembered hearing about it was that there is a scene of a hairy arm coming through a window. Creepy. But it was an old movie, made in the 1972 so I figured… Read More: Definitive guide to the Fouke monster – Beast of Boggy… »
Strange Pennsylvania Monsters by Michael Newton (Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2012) is the second book of this type that I’ve read and reviewed. It is considerably better than 2011’s Monsters of Pennsylvania by Patty Wilson which I reviewed here. These local guidebooks to monster lore are commonly categorized by type of animal. Pennsylvania’s most famous cryptids are… Read More: Strange Pennsylvania Monsters: Book Review by a strange PA monsters… »